While we were planning this adventure, we kept hearing about this place that was nicknamed "Velcro Beach." This is the place where many cruisers come and never leave. Vero Beach is right on the Intracoastal Waterway, has lots of mooring balls at an affordable price and the place caters to cruisers. The marina has nice bathrooms/showers, a large dinghy dock, high speed Internet, laundry on site, and easy access to shopping and beautiful beaches. The city has established a bus stop in front of the marina and offers FREE bus service to the beach area or to the shopping centers. There is a community of boaters that call this place home and also a large number cruisers that stop here to provision before crossing to the Bahamas. We also learned that a number of former cruisers have bought homes here when they finished cruising and have formed a club called, "CLODS," cruisers living on dirt.
Dan and Leo arrived here on December 7 after an easy ride down from Cocoa. On the way we crossed paths with this boat. He was decked out with Christmas lights and was heading to Vero for the lighted boat parade.
While we were in Vero we connected with some old friends of Leo's, Bob and Sandy. They invited us to dinner at their condo and then Bob took us surf fishing the next day. We caught a few small fish and the Dan hooked a shark that was on the line for a quick run, before biting through the line and going on his way. Bob and Sandy are CLODS, having sailed their Tayana 42 to the Bahamas many times before selling it and settling in Vero for the winters.
In addition to fishing and socializing, Dan and Leo tackled some boat projects in preparation for Laurie's return and our crossing to the islands.
Laurie returned on December 10, after 10 days in Michigan. While there she had a chance to visit with friends and family and enjoy some holiday cheer.
After Laurie arrived, we took full advantage of having a rental car. It is time for us to provision for the Bahamas, so it was off to Sam's Club. The car was a Chevy Spark and barely bigger than a motorcycle, but we managed to squeeze in an awful lot of groceries. Then came the task of finding a spot for everything. Glory Days seemed a little lower in the water when we were done, but she is still floating.
Today we relaxed a bit and took the bus to the beach for a nice walk. We hope to pull away from Velcro Beach tomorrow with a plan of being in Miami by the weekend and crossing to Bimini when the weather permits.
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Location:Vero Beach, Florida
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